Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) on Tuesday appeared to downplay Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the murder of U. S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying that…
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) on Tuesday appeared to downplay Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the murder of U. S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying that “journalists disappear” in lots of countries.
“Journalists disappear all over the country. Twenty have been killed in Mexico. You don’t think it happens in Turkey and China? Of course it does,” Stewart, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN anchor Brianna Keilar on Tuesday after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed a select group of senators on the death of the Washington Post contributor.
“We have to have a relationship with these countries,” Stewart said. “We have to have a relationship with players we don’t agree with.”
Stewart insisted that Saudi leadership will be held “accountable, including the crown prince, for whatever action he may have been involved with,” shortly before discussing how lawmakers should set their sights on protecting U.
